Hose coupler



Aug. 25, 193i. E. H. GOLD ET AL HOSE COUPLER Original Filed June 21, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 V, HA, 1J @E Aug. 25, 1931. E. H. GOLD ET An. 1,820,535

HOSE COUPLER Original Filed June 2l, 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Eber-7 6g Ec/ywarJ une/ 5)' @cl/rma Aug. 25, 1931. E. H. GOLD ET AL HOSE COUPLER 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented Aug. 25, 1931 UNITED STATES OFFICE A EGBERT H. GOLD, or EvANsTON, AND'HDWARD A. IuissELn7 OF CHICAGO, iLLINors; SAID RUssELL AssIGNOHTO VAPOR CAR. HEATING eOrvIPANY,INC., OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A. CORPORATION or IIEW YORK;` MARGARET JAY'NE GOLD AND BIsCAYNE TRUST COMPANY nXECUToRs or sAIny Henner H. GOLD', nECnAsED Hosn COUPLER Original vapplication viirlexl June y21,.71.926,1Serial No. 117,431, and in banadafsepteinber "7, QZL and this application filed Jane2'0`, 1927. Serial No. 260,032.

This invention relates to a hose coupier and more particularly to certainimprovements in hose couplers of the type now commonly used Afor connecting together the hoses, or equivalent flexible metal connectors, on the ends 'of the steam train pipes of railway cars. The improvements in this coupler com arise an ef; fective locking device which lwill'not injure the gasket or tend to bend or mutilate the arms orcam lugs of the coupler Or its mate; an improved gasket and means for supportfA ing the gasket in the coupler which will permit the gasket to adjust itself in itsl seat, thereby preventing injury to the gasket and insuring a steam tightbearing as between the faces 'of the Gaskets of mating couplers; an vimproved retaining device for the gasket whichfdoes not extend into the port .Opening to frictionally resist the passage of steam; and an improved modiiication of thev projectl ing arm of the Coupler, to insure against its distortion and the consequent,mis-alignment4 fof or injury to the gaskets of they oupling. These several features of improvement have, therefore, a single general purpose In view and their eHect inaccomplishing such pur*- pose is cumulative. The improved locking means andforwardly projecting` coupler-arm, and the combination of this lockingmeansy with the adjustable gasket are disclosed and Claimed in our pending application, Serial No. 117,481, filed J une 21, 1926, of which this present application is a division. Inthis present divisional application we are claiming` the improved adjustable gasket, and the sup*- porting and retaining devices therefor.

The principal object of this i vention is to provide an'improved automatically adjustable gasket adapted to rock in its seat to accommodate the tilting movements of the coupler when they are being moved to locking engagement with one another. v

A further object is to provide an improved retaining device for this gasket which will lock the gasket inits seat without interfering with rocking movements of the gasket, and at the same time does not extend into the steam passage to offerfrictional resistance to j' strengthening or reinforcing means for the gaskets.

A further object of the invention is tb pro# vide a' gasketv which can be used to adapt a coupler having a relativelylarge port diameter for mating with a coupler of smaller port diameter.v Y c OurV invention has in contemplation providing a coupler vhawing a'la'rger' port diain- The invention is illustrated in certain pref ferred embodiments iny the accompanying drawings, wherein l y yFigi is a planview, with apart in section, of a Jcoupler'constructed in accordance with our invention, shown as mated with a coupler of known construction.

Fig. 2 is a side elevation ofthe improved A coupler.-v I n A4Fig. 31s a detail sectional elevation on line n Fg. t is a fragmentary elevation of the coupler showing theother side from that shown iIi'Fig.` Y

Fig. 15 is a View in perspective of the device employedlfor retaining' the gasket of the coupler'l in itsy seat. i

Fig. 6 isa longitudinal sectional -plan view of the Couplers shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 7 Vis an end view of the coupler showling its 'outer or gasket end.`r

Fig. 8 isa fragmentarysectional plan view illustrating the mating of two :couplers lboth of the improved type;` y

Fig. 9 is a longitudinalsectional view 'on line 91-9 of Fig. 6, but showing thel couplers during the 'act of coupling or uncoupling'.

Figs. 10 and 11V are sectional perspectiires or` gaskets, the gasket of Fig. 10 being ein`- ployed when the'improvedicoupler is mated wit-lia vcoupler having a smaller port diameter and the gasket of Fig. 11 being used when lthe coupler is mated with a coupler 'of its own iport diameter.v

Fig. 12 is a sectional view on line 12-12 of Fig. 2, and

.F ig. 13 is a view in perspective of the locking member for locking the coupler to its mate.

The coupling as shown in Figs. 1, 6 and V9, consists of a pair of couplers A and B, coupler A embodying the improvements of our present invention and coupler B being a type of coupler in service, known as the 5 4 coupler.

Coupler B consists of a head 25 formed with a steam port 26 provided at its outer end with a seat 27 for a gasket 28. On one side of the coupler head 25 is an undercut cam lug 29 and from the other side of the head projects an arm 3() formed with a cam lug 31. On the top of the head 25 is a lug 32 in which is pivoted the bent over end 33 of a locking link 34, the other end of which also has a right angle bend 35 adapted to engage a lug on the mating coupler corresponding to lug 32.

Coupler A embodying the improvement of the present invention, consists of a head 36 of generally cylindrical shape formed on the top with a` flat web 37. On one side of the head is a cam lug 38 adapted to be engaged by the cam lug 31 on the arm 30 of coupler B. From the other side of the head projects an arm consisting of an outwardly curved or concavo-convex web 39 formed with an inturned flange 40 and at its outer end with a thickened portion 41 provided with an undercut cam lug 42 to engage the lug 29 on coupler B. Coupler A may, if desired, be formed on its upper surface with a lug 43 to be engaged by the locking link 34 of coupler B.

The port 44 of coupler A is shown as having a larger diameter than the port 45 of coupler B. The standard port diameter for steam train pipe couplers, as exemplified by coupler B, vis one and one-half inches. Coupler A is intended to have a port diameter of two inches. Since coupler A must mate with couplers of the standard size, the perpendicular distance between its cams must be the same as the perpendicular distance between the cams of the smaller couplers. Cn the other hand, the larger port diameter necessitates the use of a gasket of like diameter, and it is for this reason that `the arm of coupler A has been made concavoconvex instead of consisting of a straight' web reinforced with a projecting rib as in the case of coupler B. Moreover, the curved construction gives the arm rigidity, as against the thrust of the locking member,

- to be hereinafter described, Without using an excessive amount of metal. The larger port diameter also makes it impractical to use a gasket of the type of gasket 28 of coupler B. For this reason and for other more important reasons which will be adverted to, the gasket of coupler A is formed externally with a ball o-r spherical surface and seats in a correspondingly formed recess in the coupler head. That is, the gasket designated 46, and which may be made of a suitable hard composition, is formed eX- ternally with a spherical surface 47, which fits the spherical surface 43 formed at the outer end of the coupler port 44. By this arrangement the gasket may oscillate in its seat, and to permit this oscillation on an axis corresponding to the horizontal diameter of the port, whereby the gasket can yield at the bottom during coupling and uncoupling operations, and to make provision for retaining the gasket in its seat when the coupler is not mated with another coupler, a retaining device is used constructed preferably as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 9. rlhis device consists of a single piece of wire bent to form a ring 49 having a gap at 50, and a pair of spring fingers 51 made by return bent loop portions of the wire. The ring portion of the retainer fits into a groove 52 in the metal ferrule or armoring 53 with which the inner surface of gasket 46 is armored. The spring lingers 51 are formed with bends 54 adapted to enter recesses 55 formed in the coupler port at the extremities of the horizontal diameter of the port. rlhe recesses 55 are of sufficient size and length to permit the bent ends 54 of the fingers 51 to pivot therein and have a limited bodily movement longitudinally of the recesses so as not to interfere with the rocking adjustment of gasket 46 in its seat 48. llihe couplers in mating are rocked on their interlocking cams as shown in Fig. 9. The gasket faces are brought into contact first at the bottom points of the gasket. By forming and seating gasket 46 so that it can oscillate on a line corresponding to the horizontal diameter of the coupler port, the loiver part of the gasket can yield during the operation of coupling or uncoupling, and this obviates any possibility of the gasket being crushed or mutilated during such operations. Moreover, the gasket is` self-seating against the gasket of the mating coupler so that if the couplers when locked together are not in perfectly accurate alignment, that is, if the axes of their ports, instead of being on a straight line are at slight angles to each other, as may happen through wear on the cam lugs, the gaskets will nevertheless bear flatwise one. on the other, so as to insure a steam tight joint between the couplers. Preferably the curved surface of the gasket, as shown in the drawings, is of less width than the curved surface forming the gasket seat, so that the gasket may oscillate on its seat without any portion of the curved surface of the gasket leaving the seat. If the gasket were rocked beyond its seat, in adjusting itself to the other gasket and then the couplers were locked same. Gasket 46 is formed, in fact, with a face portion which has an internal diameter foi'isiderably less than the internal-diameter if the inner or seating portion of the gasket. As a result, the pressure of the smaller gasket 28 is likely to break 'out the inwardlyy projecting part of gasket 46. To prevent this, gasket 46 is provided with the instal .trmoring 53 above referred to, which covers the entire inner surface of the gasket and has flanges 56, 57, as well as the grooved portion 52 referred to, firmly embedded in the plastic material forming the body of the gasket. This armoring takes the thrust of the other Gasket.

b The coupler is provided with locking means preferably constructed as follows: 58 is a bracket or housing on the web 37 consistingV 'if uprights 59 anda cross web 60. rlChe latter has a threaded perforation for a pivot stud 61 on which is pivoted a locking member 62, one end 63 of which is'adapted to move over an arcuate wedging surface 64 formed on the web of the coupler head and the other end 65 of which is adapted, on rotation of the locking member, to be brought to bear upon the upper surface of the arm 30 of the mating coupler. The hole 66 in the locking member is large enough to allow a certain play on the pivot stud 61 so that as one end of the locking member rides up the wedge 64, the other end is thrust downwardly upon the arm of the mating coupler. That is, the thrust of the locking member on the arm is, in the main at least, a downward thrust substantially in the plane of the interlocked cams. This action minimizes the tendency of the lock to-bend the arm outwardly. The use of certain known types of wedging locks has brought about considerable bending and distortion of the coupler arms, together with some mutilation and bending of the locking cams. Dis tortions of this sort, even if they do not prevent the coupler from being interlocked with another coupler, involve necessarily disturbing the parallel relationship between the gasket faces, or at least the oifsetting of one face with respect to the other, and this results in mutilation of the gasket faces. Preferably the under side of the locking member 62 'is beveled oppositely at opposite ends of the member providing a slightly inclined surface 67 (Fig. 3) to bear against the arm of the mating coupler and an oppositely inclined couplers are provided with gasket 69 'shown in ,detail in Fig. 11. ,y y Y 0peratz'0n.-The couplers, whether' beth are of theimproved type or only one of them, areV coupled together by a rbcking `mo`ve1nent of one on the cams of the other,

as illustrated in Fig; 9.- The lowerrfprtions of the gaskets come in'to Contact first, and with' both the gasketsfiked in their coupler heads, the gaskets will necessarily have to be' compressed, at this place, one against the other, as the couplers are rocked intoali-gnment. By mounting the gasket 46 'sothat it will oscillate on an axis corresponding-to the lo'wer portion of thelg'asket willyield, during the rocking movements of the' cou;

pier, so that pressure between the gaskets atv arm of the mating coupler being sprung or bent. Where two couplers of the improved type are coupled as indicated in Fig. 8, the construction 'of the arm resists any tendency theremay be to strain underthe pressure' exerted by the lock. Locks of this type are ordinarily driven into place by a hammer,

so that the pressure which they exert may be considerable. A lgreat deal fof difficulty has been experienced through the bending of the arms of vcouplers of the type'indicated, and through the bending and mutilation of the interlocking cams as a result of force applied in locking the couplerstogether; If

the coupler arm is bent' even slightly or the cams mutilated or distorted, the gasket faces of interlo'cked couplers will be either roffset orout of parallelism with each other, or both, as a result of which the gaskets are mutilated ythe horizontal diameter of the ceupl'erlport, i

'its

lio

'and a steam tight fitbetween their face'sbecomes impossible. miZcd by the provision of a lock which acts vertically on the coupler arm of the mating coupler, and, moreover, slight distortion of the coupler can be taken care of by the capacity of the gasket to oscillate in its seat. It will be understood that while the rocking movements of greater amplitude are on an axis corresponding to the horizontal diameter of the coupler port, the retainingy device being resilient will allow thev gasket to yield to acertain extent as against pressure ap- This "difficulty is miniplied at any point. If the cams of the couplers are worn, or if the gaskets are, through wear or for other reasons, shorter than they should be, the pressure of the lock will rock the couplers beyond the place of perfect alignment, but if the gasket can oscillate in its seat, it will adjust itself to this malalignment of the couplers provided it is not excessive. In other words, the lock can` be driven to such a point as will bring the coupler faces flatwise one against the other to perfectly seal the joint between the couplers, because of the capacity of the gaskets in one or each of the couplers to rock on a spherically curved seat.

To adapt the large bore Coupler A to couplers of standard size, such as exemplilied by the coupler B, (Figs. l, 6 and 9), the lgasket 46 (Fig. l0), is used. When coupler A is to be coupled with another coupler of the same port diameter gasket 69 (Fig. l1), will be substituted for gasket 46. The same gasket retaining device can be used.

It Will be noted that the spring fingers 5l of the wire retainer lie closely against the walls of the coupler port, and that no portions of the retainer extend across or obstruct the port opening. This is very advantageous, since it has been found that Wires or similar parts extending into or across the port opening cause Considerable frictional resistance to the passage of steam, and may even cause the gasket and retainer to be blown away at the rear end of the train line when the line is blown out. .Also, pieces of hose or other solid matter might lodge against such cross wires and block the line. The improved. retainer here shown does not extend into the port passage, and therefore offers no resistance to the passage of steam or solid matter.

We claim:

In combination a coupler comprising a head having on one side an undercut cam lug, on the other side a forwardly project ing arm provided with a cam lug, and formed with a port the outer end of which is spherically curved to provide a gasket seat; and a gasket having a spherical surface to lit said seat, the spherical surface of the gasket being of less width than the width of the seat to allow oscillating movement of the gasket without separation of any part of its curved surface from the curved surface forming the seat.

EGBERT H. GOLD. EDlVARD A. RUSSELL. 

